Various cooking methods or procedures are of course widely employed in connection with the cooking or preparation of various different foods. For example, eggs may be grilled or poached, oatmeal may be cooked within a pot of hot water, chicken may be cooked within ovens, shrimp may be cooked within steamers, and various other food products may be cooked in boiling water. In the fast-food industry, however, such known cooking procedures are not readily adaptable to the needs of fast-food customers who order their particular food products and expect the food products to effectively be delivered to them within a time frame which may comprise only several minutes. In addition, while the aforenoted United States patent application effectively taught the relatively quick cooking of food products disposed within single or individual serving food cups as a result of the food, disposed within the food cups being exposed to the steam issuing from the steam generator, it is sometimes desirable to cook larger amounts of food, that is, larger than a single or individual food portion, by means of the same cooking techniques while nevertheless preserving relatively short periods of cooking time.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved food cooking appliance wherein the aforenoted disadvantages or operational drawbacks characteristic of conventional food cooking appliances are effectively overcome or eliminated. More particularly, a need exists in the art for a new and improved food cooking appliance which will permit or facilitate the cooking of various different food products. Furthermore, a need exists in the art for a new and improved food cooking appliance which will permit or facilitate the cooking of various different food products in a relatively short period of time. Still further, a need exists in the art for a new and improved food cooking appliance which will permit or facilitate the cooking of various different food products in a relatively short period of time which effectively renders the appliance extremely desirable in the fast-food industry. Yet further, a need exists in the art for a new and improved food cooking appliance which will permit or facilitate the cooking of multiple-sized portions of various different food products within a food product cup while nevertheless preserving the relatively short periods of cooking time.